Joan Garahana (Nielsen)

Time with Grandma Garahana was always a great time! She was so good to everyone, but especially good to her grand kids. She always had some kind of candy waiting for us, sometimes it was one of my favorites, an ice cream sandwich. I have so many great memories of Grandma Garahana, but among my favorites are the sleepovers we would have with my grandparents. Grandma always took us to do things that were so much fun and things that we weren't able to do too often. I loved going to the 49 street Galleria with her and my brothers. I remember bowling with her and my older brother there when I was pretty young. I was barely able to throw the ball down the lane, and one time I didn't give the ball much of a push at all. My older brother said, "It's not going to make it, hurry and grab it." So I hurried down the lane to "catch" my ball and promptly slipped and landed on my head on the very slick lane. We always played air hockey, the arcades, miniature golf and of course we rode our favorite ride, the Gravitron. Grandma also took us to movies during our sleepovers and usually we were able to stop at the store and pick out a toy. I remember getting WWF action figures, Batman and Robin Hood toys and many others, but my favorite thing I was able to choose was a BYU football. I remember wanting one for so long to get a football, and knowing exactly what I wanted. Grandma took me to the store and bought me the royal blue BYU football. As soon as we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, Grandpa took me across the street to an open field of grass and we passed the football around for awhile. I was in heaven! Simply put, sleepovers with my Grandma Garahana are among my very favorite memories.